


the devil and the deep blue sea

by thekuroiookami



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, F/M, Fantasy, Fluff, Kyrie is best girl, Meet-Cute, One Shot, Romance, Teen Romance, mermaid au, she deserves all the love, so does Nero
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-23
Updated: 2019-04-23
Packaged: 2020-01-25 15:23:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18577207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thekuroiookami/pseuds/thekuroiookami
Summary: On an ordinary day, Kyrie finds a treasure on the beach.





	the devil and the deep blue sea

Kyrie was a little bored. Just a little bit. She traced a random pattern in the sand with her toes, sighing.

 

Somewhere ahead of her, Lady and Trish bickered over the exact specifications of the ideal seashell. She smiled reassuringly when they turned to look back at her. When they returned to their argument, she sighed again.

 

Maybe she'd go get some ice cream. 

 

She wandered along the shore, debating what flavor to get, her sandals dangling from her fingers. The smell of sea salt and the silky sand beneath her feet were calming, and she fell into a mindless glide, contemplating the merits of butterscotch over raspberry. 

A girl could have both, right?

 

A sudden spark of light caught her eye. 

 

Curious, Kyrie padded over to a rocky outcropping where water pooled in little concave depressions, left over from the high tide. She found the glint between strands of desolate seaweed.

 

"It's a necklace?"

 

A very pretty necklace. Two outspread wings, and two more wings in the centre, folded protectively over a pale stone. She wondered how something so valuable had ended up here. 

 

"Oh dear, someone's probably looking for it. I hope they have a lost and found counter around here somewhere."

 

She nodded to herself, suddenly resolved. Having something to do made her feel better. She'd find Lady and Trish, tell them about her errand and-

 

Was that movement in the water?

 

Kyrie leaned over the edge of the rock, peering into a sea that rippled with soft blues and sparkling hints of green. She could see some silvery fish, but that was about it. She rubbed her eyes, tired. The heat was starting to get to her.

 

"Um, that's mine."

 

Kyrie whipped her head towards the voice, gasped, and landed on her butt. After falling backwards. Into the water.

 

"Oh shit, are you okay?" 

 

The young man - was that the right term, she had no idea, maybe he was 200 years old - reached out carefully and grasped her by the shoulders. Then he lifted her, sopping wet, and set her down carefully on the rock.

 

Kyrie pushed aside the hair plastered to her face and blinked at him. "Thank you?"

 

He gave her a concerned once-over and hoisted himself up to sit on the rock. "I know, it was a bit of a shock."

 

She nodded and gestured weakly at him. "You're supposed to be a myth. It was more than a bit."

 

She looked down pointedly at his tail then. He did too. They both admired the brilliant azure length of it in companionable silence. He angled it slightly so it caught the sunlight, and it seemed to be alight with blue fire. 

 

He looked slightly abashed when he spoke again. "Sorry you got drenched."

 

Kyrie laughed softly. He was cute when he was embarrassed. "It wasn't really your fault. Did you come for the necklace?"

 

"Oh. Yeah! The necklace. I almost forgot." He cleared his throat. "May I?"

 

She placed it in his outstretched hand, noticing for the first time the scaled hide and the clawed tips. She looked up at his face in question.

 

His open, carefree expression shuttered. "I don't know why it's different. Maybe I had a parent who was a lizard?"

 

"You don't know your parents?"

 

"I don't know anyone, really. There's no else like me down there."

 

He gestured to the deceptively placid water, and it struck Kyrie that the ocean blanketed three-fourths of the Earth's surface, so it was a much larger space to be lonely in. 

 

She touched his shoulder gently. He jolted and leaned away warily. Her heart squeezed. "Surely," she said softly, "there has to be someone. Even myths come from somewhere."

 

He was still for a heartbeat. Then his wry grin returned. "I suppose you're right. I'll probably find them one day."

 

"How did you learn to speak, if you don't mind me asking?"

 

He leaned back on his hands, idly flicking the end of his tail in the water. "A woman from a fishing village taught me, when I was younger. The necklace was hers."

 

Kyrie hugged her knees and gazed into the distance. "Thank goodness I found it, then."

 

He glanced at her and away quickly, somehow shy again. "Yeah."

 

Okay, he was really adorable and she was about to break into silly giggles. "I-I'm Kyrie. And you?"

 

He rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. "Nero." 

 

She held her hand out with a bright smile. "It's nice to meet you, Nero."

 

Nero stared at her a for long moment. "I don't eat humans."

 

"What?"

 

"It's nice of you to offer your arm, I'm sure you mean well, but uh, I don't swing that way."

 

"No, no, no," Kyrie cut in with a tinge of panic, "it's a custom. You shake hands with someone when you meet. To show friendliness."

 

She picked up his clawed hand and shook it in demonstration. "See?"

 

Nero looked even more confused than before. "How is that a sign of friendship? Moving my hand up and down like a stuck fin?"

 

"I don't know," she admitted. "But it's a thing."

 

"Huh. Humans are weird." But he seemed to be having fun, if the way his eyes crinkled at the corners was any indication.

 

"Not weirder than having a fish tail," she teased. "Hey, can I touch it?"

 

He raised his eyebrows so high they nearly disappeared into his cropped hair. She retreated, stammering. "I mean, not if it's really rude, I don't know mermaid etiquette, or is it merman-"

 

"Go ahead." Nero gave her an amused look.

 

She carefully touched her fingertips to the point where his knees would have been if he had been human. The scales were a little broader than the ones she'd seen on carp, rough yet smooth at the same time.  Nero watched her silently, sapphire eyes bright.

 

She looked up at him in wonder. "It's warm. I didn't expect that."

 

"Heh."

 

"Are you sure you're alright with me touching it?"

 

"Yeah. Doesn't feel too different from your hand on my shoulder." He scrunched his nose. "Maybe a bit tickly though."

 

She giggled and laid her palm flat over a curve of indentations. "Is this a scar?"

 

"That," Nero said with a touch of exasperation, "is what happens when a shark gets his teeth into you." 

 

"A shark?!"

 

"It's okay, he stopped when I punched him in the face."

 

Before she could find a proper response to that, a light breeze picked up and Kyrie was suddenly hit by a shiver. Nero frowned at her. "You're cold?"

 

"Just from the wet clothes, I'll be fine." She reluctantly looked at the beach. "I should get going, though."

 

"Oh." His shoulders - wow, how broad were they - drooped. "Good-bye, then."

 

Kyrie tilted her head, a bit sad. "You're leaving for good?"

 

"H-huh? No, but you won't come back. Will you?" His hands curled in his lap.

 

"I don't mind. I live nearby." She turned and pointed to the sleepy town rising on a slope behind the beach. "Same time tomorrow?"

 

Nero's eyes widened. "You'll come back? For me?"

 

"Of course. Do you see any other cute merboys around here with interesting stories around here?" Kyrie bit her lip at the slip-up.

 

She felt better when Nero turned the most wonderful shade of pink and suddenly dived into the water. After a minute that seemed like an eternity, he resurfaced with a look of grim determination.

 

"Kyrie."

 

"Yes?"

 

"Come here."

 

She leaned down, curious. Her breath caught in her lungs as he rose up, his face so close to hers that she could see the droplets clinging to his lashes. Her heart pounded in triple-time as he lifted his hands.

 

"For you." Nero laid the necklace around her neck gently.

 

Kyrie clutched it in surprise. "But it's yours. It's such a precious memory."

 

"My first friend is precious too." He retreated into the water until only his eyes and the slight flush on his cheekbones were visible. "It's a promise, okay?"

 

Kyrie couldn't contain her smile. "Definitely."   
  
  
  



End file.
